This piece is part of an on-going blog series called Plurality 2.0 (watch video here). Full schedule of guest authors throughout April and May is available here.
John O’Hara is a husband, father, and ordained minister who is stumbling forward in the Way of Jesus. He serves as Family Ministry Pastor at Sequoyah Community Church in Oakland, California and writes at www.oharaville.com; and on clear nights, the soft electric glow of his laptop can be seen among the terrestrial stars of the California coast, patiently awaiting the appearance of words.
SIX YEAR OLD NAMED KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT BI-ANNUAL DENOMINATIONAL CONFERENCE
ORLANDO – Taking quite literally Jesus’ instruction that a person must “be like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven,” leadership for the Assemblies of God (USA), one of the largest evangelical organizations in the world, have named six year old Billy Thompson as the keynote speaker for its’ bi-annual national convention to be held in Orlando, Florida.
Several better known pastors and authors, who normally occupy the keynote position in order to draw an audience to these events, have voiced their surprise at this unexpected announcement. Some have expressed concern. “It’s not that I don’t like kids,” said one leader who asked to remain anonymous. “it’s just that Christians need good, solid discipleship. I doubt Billy has the proper biblical training, much less the stage presence, to pull off an event of this magnitude.”
In fact, because Billy is in kindergarten, the normal preaching format has been shelved in favor of story time, in which Billy will re-tell stories of Jesus healing the sick and loving people that society looked down on, interspersed with songs about farm animals. This will be followed by snack time, during which his classmates will help distribute crackers and juice to the ministers in attendance. Billy has chosen Elaine “Laney” H., his bestest friend in the whole world, to offer the benediction prayer. It is rumored that she will use hand-motions.
When asked about his position on various doctrinal hot-button issues, Billy’s response was “I don’t know about that.” Asked what he does know about Jesus, he said, “Well… Jesus had a lot of friends because he didn’t care if you were a bad guy. He always said to love each other and to treat people the way you want to be treated. And he helped Peter catch whole boatload of fish.”
“The unconventional choice of a six year old to speak at a national denominational conference wasn’t easy, but we gave it a lot of thought and even more prayer,” explained one of the denominational leaders. “but when you’re looking at a plateau in membership, a growing population, and an ever-increasing need in our world for faith in action, we realized that another three-point sermon was simply not going to cut it. Seriously, if I don’t hear another message in my lifetime I wouldn’t even notice. This is stuff we’ve all heard before, many times over. Most of us have given up on real transformation years ago. That’s a dangerous place to be, because when you don’t have the imagination to see the future, all you have left is the pageantry of the past to defend. Let me tell you: over the years, we have gotten real good at rehearsing the past, so much so that we wouldn’t know the future if it bit us in the butt. Maybe having a kid up front for a change will shake something loose in our thinking.
“Billy hasn’t been taught yet to box the Creator into a religious grid. He still colors outside the lines, you know? His creativity hasn’t been tarnished by what’s practical, and he hasn’t traded the wild and surprising possibilities of faith for the narrow defensiveness of certainty. Kids get it. Kids get God in a way that eludes the most educated among us. I just hope we aren’t too proud to receive what the Spirit wants to say through little Billy.
“There’s still more beauty to be discovered in the universe. As a pastor and a theologian, it’s too easy to miss the forest for the trees. I’m getting a little older, and hopefully a little wiser, and I’m quickly realizing that my days are numbered. I don’t want to waste any more time classifying God and the universe, because every moment I spend trying to make sense of it is a moment I could have been participating in it — participating with God in the world. Jesus help us, and please make us all more like Billy!”
Related posts:
- John Franke on Plurality 2.0
- Jeremy Zach on Plurality 2.0
- Melissa DeRosia on Plurality 2.0
- Marci Auld Glass on Plurality 2.0
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m utterly confused. This is cute, and not untrue. But what does it have to do with “pluralism”?
Thanks, Jason.
Pluralism is kind of like race: it’s a sociological construction that exists only in analysis. What’s real and lasting is not our position on the subject, but our relationship to each other and God. Story has a way of tripping up our egos and pulling us back into that reality. I hope a story can agitate our collective intellect in a way that helps us to see the conversation in new ways.
This is absolutely awesome.
Thank you.
Jason,
While this story may not have a direct relation to pluralism, it certainly speaks to ecumenism. What approach could be more ecumenical than forcing Christian leaders to focus on the power and simplicity of Christ’s love, rather than debate more “intellectual” doctrinal issues? Since this leadership conference is within the AG, I don’t know that you can say that the purpose of having a 6-year-old speaker is to promote ecumenism. I am not even sure if you can say that it is a good idea, but the proof will be in how those church leaders receive the speech. If the AG’s approach has the desired effect, attendees will refocus their hearts on the person of Christ. Such has been the strategy of modern ecumenists since the birth of the concept.
Thanks John. i really resonated with this, ‘but when you’re looking at a plateau in membership, a growing population, and an ever-increasing need in our world for faith in action, we realized that another three-point sermon was simply not going to cut it. Seriously, if I don’t hear another message in my lifetime I wouldn’t even notice. This is stuff we’ve all heard before, many times over. Most of us have given up on real transformation years ago. That’s a dangerous place to be, because when you don’t have the imagination to see the future, all you have left is the pageantry of the past to defend.’ Powerful that an Assemblies Of God Evangelical gets this!
Warmest Regards,
EP
John O’Hara,
Thanks for the powerful message that I wish more Presbyterians would get. I mean, most of them see it on Sunday’s when their pastor delivers a “Children’s Message” during worship. How many times have little children said things that either stump the seminary trained pastor or better yet, how many times has the Spirit chosen to speak truth in a profoundly powerful way through a six-year-old who speaks her mind?
And speaking of those “Children’s Messages” that are often more challenging than a sermon for the big kids–that is, the adults, isn’t it wonderful how readily the kids answer by saying “Jesus” or “love” or “God”?
So what does this have to do with pluralism? Well I think that Matthew 18:1-5 compells us all to remove the blinders or filters we use to look at and analyze the world. Jesus is telling us to abandon some of our “more mature” ideas about life, you know those ideas that are theologically or doctrinally correct and embrace others as fellow Children of God. Yes, Paul says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I becam an adult, I put an end to childish ways” (1 Cor. 13:11, NRSV). Perhaps Paul isn’t thinking about chronological age, maybe he’s talking about the immature ways that some envision God and God’s Kingdom as well as the way they treat others.
So tell me, which is more childish; demanding that we, fallen, imperfect, sinners have all the answers and somehow are capable of perfectly conveying truth or fully relying on God and God’s Spirit to work through both our words and deeds in a myriad of ways to show the love of God to others AND OURSELVES within this pluralistic world?
Why is it so hard for us to get the message that we are love others as God loves us?
Phil,
THANK YOU for explaining so elegantly the essence of John’s post. i think you nailed it on the head!
Pax,
EP
Phil, et al,
While I am not sure of everyone else’s definition of pluralism, and how it shapes or should shape the practice of our faith, I feel uncomfortable with some of the directions in which this discussion is headed. I think there are entirely different lessons we can take from the AG’s potent reminder of childlike faith, as well as the verses referenced above.
1. Children did not have incredible faith in Jesus because they wanted to be inclusive, or because they thought that “loving people” was nice. They had faith because they committed themselves to a relationship with Him that was obviously filled with love. Relationship with God. That is why children often get it, when we remain mired in our hyper-intellectual confusion. While we abstract the concepts of faith and debate over the exigencies of doctrine, they simply sit at the Master’s feet and listen. We need to re-learn that posture.
2. The power to save the nations lies in Christ alone. He is no more defined by our imagining of the future, as he is by our defense of the “pageantry of the past”. He is not made more powerful by filled seats or exciting music. He is enriched by neither a Latin liturgy, nor a cool coffee house discussion. Placing hope in any of these things is folly. We need to be placing our hope in He who is the past and the future; the alpha and omega.
3. The “childish things” referred to in I Corinthians encompass more than petty differences and immaturity. Paul specifically referred to religious practices that are considered by many to be the height of spirituality: speaking in tongues, prophesy, words of wisdom, and self sacrifice. When the limited façade of our understanding is cast aside, and we can see all creation as He sees it, even our best efforts will seem like the unschooled attempts of a child imitating his father. Love transcends the veil, which is why Paul commands us to have it above all things.
4. Let us refer to this “pluralistic” world more accurately as “fallen”. We have a tendency to act as though the world is what it is, and that we have no authority to change it. This world belongs to the Creator, and He has not only given us the authority, but the power to offer it redemption through Jesus Christ. Phil, I totally understand your hesitancy about trusting the truth to “fallen, imperfect sinners”. But God promises us that wherever He sends us, He will empower us by the Holy Spirit. In all cases but one, He has only ever had sinners to work with, and look what He can do!
I apologize for droning on so long. My key point is this: no embracing of pluralism or re-imagining of our tolerance will save souls; only the power of the risen Christ can accomplish that. We need to be about obedience and childlike faith in Him, period. That means going when He says “go”, and reflecting His Love to the world, not our own understanding of love. His love, by the way, is for everyone, but it “does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth” (I Cor 13:6).
Hi All,
While I am enjoying the conversation immensely, I should point out if only to protect the credibility of my fellowship with the AG, that the entire news article is, at this point, a work of fiction. If headquarters gets wind of the article and decides to have life imitate art imitating life… well, I know some 6 year-olds who would be interested.
Donald K. McKim in his “Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms” defines pluralism as “a philosophical view holding that reality is composed of various things or states, in contrast to monism, which holds that there is only one underlying reality”; McKim also defines religious pluralism as “Diversities of thought, cultures, values, religions, etc., in a society”.
I guess my responses have dwelt on the fact, for good or for bad, that the reality in which we find ourselves and that of the first century church in which the New Testament was written is a pluralistic society, both religiously and otherwise. So one of the main questions is: How do we as Christians (regardless of our heritage) interact in such a setting? And some of my replies have been prompted by statements that SEEM to either deny the reality within which we find ourselves or make statements that imply anything but Christianity or allowances for different cultures are wrong somehow.
I just don’t get that from my reading of the New Testament, especially Jesus who did everything he could to reach out to the “other” whether she was a sinner or he was a tax collector (that is a collaborator with Rome) or a member of the religious elite or a Roman Centurion. My reading of Jesus’ interactions with the “others” in his lifetime were mostly conversations or hospitable receptions of their (the “other’s”) questions and comments and concerns.
As for Jesus’ outrage and condemnation, who was that usually reserved for? That’s right, to a large degree, Jesus’ indignation was reserved for those who were already followers of the One God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; be they the religious elite, citizens of Jerusalem or Nazareth or even his own disciples.
Phil,
I agree totally that Jesus purposefully surrounded himself with people of all religious backgrounds, much to the chagrin of Jewish leaders. I also agree that much of his ire was reserved for the Pharisees and other “religious” Jews. I apologize if any of my comments have suggested that Christians should refrain from intermingling or holding discourse with non-Christians. I believe quite the contrary.
Jesus came for the lost, re: everyone. I absolutely agree that we should follow the example of He “who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (ITim 2:4). Even in his anger about the money changers in the temple, and his corrections of the Pharisees and his own disciples were based on love. It was the vituperation of a father who’s errant sons should know better. The people who did not know better, he treated in a kinder manner.
My concern is that we should not become so eager to accept other beliefs that we abandon the truth. Jesus answered the questions and criticisms of others because he wanted to teach them the truth, not because he thought their “other” religions were equally valid. Jesus did not tell the adulteress “go and keep doing what you were doing – you are fine the way you are”. He told her “Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11) Jesus came to save the lost, not to tell them they were alright.
As a follower of Christ, I believe Him when he said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) I want others to learn about Jesus Christ so that they can find The Way, not so we can merely have an enlightened religious discussion. I am not a proponent of fire-and-brimstone preaching as a method of evangelism. Neither am I willing, however, to abandon the sterner, less cheery tenets of my faith in order to make it more accessible to non-Christians.
RogueIV,
Thank you, that helps clarify some things. Perhaps there are those who have been writing on this blog who would deny their faith and take up someone elses. That, however, is not what I am advocating; nor am I willing to accept the beliefs of other for the sake of conversation. What I would advocate is understanding those of other faiths and no faith, not because I believe that such faiths are valid for me, but in order to engage in conversation which may eventually lead to conversion at best or mutuality at least an understanding of the other is helpful and respectful. I suppose one could argue from an orthodox stance that Jesus being the preexistant second person of the Trinity (John 1:1) knew all there was to know about those with whom he was speaking to.
So what are we to do? Living in a pluralistic society means that we must, as Christians first, know who we are in relationship to Jesus Christ, then know the Scriptures in which Jesus the Christ is at the center, then be familiar with our own understanding of theology and then work at discovering what others in this culture think. The latter can be accomplished through being well read in world religions, politics, philosophy and other disciplines that inform on who we are.
Phil,
I think we understand each other, then. I would advise any Christian to study the ways and beliefs of many cultures. Jesus met people where they were and changed them forever. We cannot follow His example from the top of a soapbox.
I do not think, by the way, that anyone here would abandon his faith. I would make a slightly stronger statement than you have, however, when you say that you would not “believe that such faiths are valid for me”. I extend that sentiment to the other person as well. I believe Jesus is his or her Way, as well as mine.
I think we are saying the same thing, but I want to be clear. We should respect and endeavor to understand everyone. There is a fine line however, between respecting the people we meet of different backgrounds, and accepting their religions as equally viable. As in most social situations, there are (at least) two ways to err here: by the exclusion of other people based on their backgrounds, or by the inclusion of their beliefs based on the desire to bring in people. As I see it, churches in America have been guilty of both extremes.
I think your prescription for what we should do about daily life in a fallen world is good. We should know our Lord, and continue to build upon a firm foundation of faith. Then we should equip ourselves to meet others where they are, and give them the good news.
Let us, then be active in our relationship with Christ, delving daily into His word, and testing all other truths against it, through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
John,
LOL. I just read your post concerning the fictional nature of the story. Great job – I was totally fooled! I had just been looking around for other articles relating to the story when I noticed your post. I have a 5-year-old son who has a passion for the Lord, but I could not imagine him speaking coherently to a group of adults without veering off into WebKins or Star Wars Lego tangents. I was thinking – that must be some extraordinary 6-year old!
:) Color me gullible.
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